Month: January 2009

I’m talking about the Chinese New Year song “齊齊賀下你 (Let us all wish you)”. I bet few Hong Kongers who grew up hearing the song every spring realize that the lyrics were written to the tune of Oh Susannah, an American folk song commonly associated with the California Gold Rush in the 1840-50s.

While the light and fast tune is suitable for a happy occasion like the new year, the original lyrics are much less auspicious – they tell a rather sad story:

I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee,
I’m going to Louisiana, my true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death; Susanna, don’t you cry.

Oh, Susanna, don’t you cry for me
I come from Alabama,
With my banjo on my knee.

How did OhSusannah end up as a Chinese New Year song is a mystery. Some may find it a strange combination; I say this is a fine example of Hong Kong’s cultural adaptability.

In any case, it is a pleasant piece of music to listen to.

Except when it is blasted into your ears repeatedly at deafening volume by every loudspeaker in the Chinese restaurant amid all the clatter of crockery and chatter of diners – exactly the ordeal I had to go through yesterday evening.

I expected to see many familiar faces and a chance to catch up on old times. Instead, only two guys from my year were there. At least two full committees went missing, and Dr. Luke, the “founding father” was not in Hong Kong. It was quite disheartening.

I guess this is just what happens after so many years have passed.

The effeminate and creepy dude at our table, though, was a real eye-opener, albeit in a disturbing way.

After dinner came the dreaded “sharing session”. A round of applause to those who had the good sense of not pushing me to speak. I do enjoy public speaking, don’t get me wrong, but by that I mean a well prepared and rehearsed speech. My mind goes blank if I have to improvise one.

For those who have never heard of DipTrans, it is a translation exam organized by the Chartered Institute of Linguist UK. Passing the DipTrans is a requirement for CIoL membership. DipTrans is notorious for its difficulty, with a first-time pass rate of only 20%. It is, however, a widely recognized international qualification and I believe it is considered an “unofficial” professional qualification here in Hong Kong, as least by those in the translation industry.

Candidates have to translate a text of moderate length in each of the three papers. Passing all three papers is required for award of the DipTrans. Candidates may re-sit any failed paper in the next year and have five years to pass all three.

This year’s paper 1 (general translation) was of average difficulty. The main challenge came from the text’s heavy use of figurative language and unusual comparisons, such as “語言是一個漂移不定的框架，而人們生活於其中” (or something like that, I don’t remember the exact wordings). In some parts I (literally) pulled my hairs out trying to understanding what the author was saying, something I didn’t expect as a native speaker of Chinese.

For paper 2 (semi-specialized), I chose the business text. It was an excerpt from an investment report and therefore quite similar to what I translate routinely at work. Overall this was the easiest of all three papers, except a few difficult areas. The other two options were technology and literature. The technology text was rather difficult, and I ruled out literature even before the exam.

For paper 3 (also semi-specialized), I chose the science text, which concerned eutrophication and blue algae bloom in China’s lakes. I was actually more familiar with the content of the legal text, but closer inspection of it revealed many traps. The third option, social science, was full of obscure jargons and therefore too hard.

I was quite surprised to know that I was the ONLY candidate, which also meant I had my own room. The invigilator told me there would be 20 candidates in the English-Chinese exam on the following day. A stark contrast but understandable. People are often more comfortable translating into their mother tongue, which, for most people in Hong Kong, is Chinese.

I hope I can pass at least one paper (I dare not expect too much, since it’s so easy to fail in DipTrans – if you’ve read the examiner’s report then you know what I mean). I would get REALLY depressed and demoralized if I fail all three, not to mention that re-sitting is very expensive. The exam costed me about HKD8,000 this time, and the fees go up every year.

Today is 1 January, first day of a new year. Is there any better day to start a new blog?

2008 was a rather unpleasant year, for the whole world of course, but also for myself. And no, I’m not talking about losing money in the stock market.

2008 was also a year of relevation for me. I discovered a lot about myself and people around me which I wasn’t aware of before.

So I’ve closed my old blog at wordpress.com, to put the past behind, and opened this new one, to signify a new page in my life, a fresh start.

Of course 2008 wasn’t entirely bad. Indeed, there were memorable things, and they are erased from the cyberspace forever with the closing of my old blog. It’s just that, you’ve got to put the past behind before you can move forward.